Day 3 of Exit arguably had the most stacked line-up, to the point that I had big dilemmas about who to see. The night started with a very mellow set by the pioneers of techno, Kraftwerk. Kraftwerk are a group of four producers from Germany that many argue created the genre Techno. Although there style is different from the Techno being produced today, they were way ahead of their time in regards to their sound. Their set included some great visuals played over the screens.
Following Kraftwerk was Moby, a man that needs no introduction. I had assumed Moby was going to be playing a DJ set, as last year when I saw him at love parade that’s what he did. However he played a live set. Moby is a really skilled artist. Throughout his set he sang, played guitar, and also played the bongos. His crowd interaction was top-notch, and he poured out lots of energy. Part way through his set he denounced George Bush, and said something a long the lines of ‘one of my jobs as an American, is to apologize for our past president George Bush, who has pretty much fucked everything up these past 8 years. Thank god we now have Barack Obama who is helping to turn things around.’ I thought this was pretty humorous. From other interviews I’ve seen with Moby, he seems to be a very socially aware individual. But that’s beside the point, all in all he was a great addition to Exit 10 year anniversary, throwing down a great performance.
After Moby came Grandmaster Flash, one of the O.G.’s of Hip Hop. After seeing Grandmaster Flash, I need to insist that he is an artist that everyone must see at least once in their life. His performance was an absolutely incredible mix of DJ’ing (turntableism), Mc’ing, and rapping. His set started off with a proper Michael Jackson tribute followed by hit, after hit, after hit. Here’s where the huge dilemma came in. Half an hour into his set (at 2:30am) Etienne De Crecy was coming on in the Dance Arena. I had just bumped into the Britt’s that I had met back in Budapest at the hostel, and they insisted I come see Etienne De Crecy, and thankfully I did.
Etienne De Crecy is a must see performer for any electronic music fan. For those of you that have never heard about Etienne De Crecy’s light Square, youtube it this very instant. He basically dj’s in the center of this massive set of squares, somewhat lset up like Hollywood squares. It’s hard to explain so really just youtube it to see what I’m talking about. On top of the craziest visuals (via the light squares) I have ever seen, his music was absolutely incredible. He played a live set, meaning he created the music on the spot with synths, drum machines, etc. His style for those who haven’t heard, was like a dirtier, harder version of Justice. After seeing him live, I have to say that Etienne De Crecy is without a doubt in my top 3 fav electronic performers of all time.
After Etienne De Crecy, came the dynamic duo from the Swedish House Mafia head to head, Sebastian Ingrosso vs. Steve Angello. I’ve always been a huge fan of their productions, as well as their sets, and the set they threw down for Exit 10 year anniversary was no different. They tossed down a set packed with massive build-ups, and fat, explosive, drops. With the set they threw down, it’s no wonder why they are two of the top dj/producers in the world. Really bang on.
After the Swedish House Mafia duo, we decided to call it a night, despite the fact that Eric Prydz vs. Adam Beyer were coming on. However while walking out we passed by the main stage, which had Fabio & Grooverider & Mc Jakes dropping dirty Drum & Bass. So we stuck around for another half an hour or so dancing to that.
All in all Day 3 was definitely the best night to this point. Day 4 is going to have a tough time matching it, although with names like Prodigy, Chase & Status, Bryan Gee & Kenny Ken, Paul Woolford, Marko Nastic, Japanese Popstars, Sander Kleinenberg vs. Darren Emerson, and Green Velvet vs. Carl Cox, on the bill I think it might be possible.
Aaron
“Getting down to business, so you can get to the business of getting down”